I didn’t have just high school students my first day as a substitute teacher. I had kindergarten, first grade, AND high school. At different times, of course.
I got to the school, filled out the appropriate paperwork and was shown to ‘my’ classroom where I was promptly handed a stack of blank demerits and told to feel free to use them if I needed to. Whoa! To me, receiving a demerit I had to take home and have signed was like the worst thing I could get. So, I put them in a drawer and out of sight. No one would be needing those on my shift.
For the first hour, I had the kindergarteners. Cute, precious, and fun. Until the 20th person asked, “Can you get me on the Disney website?” The teacher I was replacing had written out a workplan and being the organized person I am, planned on following the plan. Easy, right? Wrong! Everyone wanted on the disney website which wasn’t on the workplan for the the day. No one wanted to play on Paint, or Kidpix, or the typing game CD’s that was left on the desk.
“Are you allowed to do that?” I asked. Unanimously, they said yes. I figured if it was a no-no, there would be one Margaret (think Dennis the Menace) in the bunch that would set me straight, but no one owned up. So, with only 20 minutes left in the period, I put everyone on the disney website.
Wanna know how fast I can now type www.disneychannel.com after the 20th time in a row?
Next period, I had a mixture of 8th graders and the high school yearbook club. I thought it was sweet that there were so many high school students willing to volunteer on the yearbook. I know I distinctly heard someone murmur they wouldn’t be caught dead volunteering and this was nothing but slave labor. So, my take on that comment is it is a required class.
Two guys in the corner kept eyeing me pretty regularly and since I know they weren’t thinking I was a hot babe or anything, I decided to check what they were doing on their computers. Now, I am not dumb. I have raised four sons. And I know what ‘start’ ‘D’ does on a computer, so I pretended not to pay any attention to them and slowly made my way around the room, catching them unaware.
Yep, playing online computer games.
“Are you allowed to that?” I asked? But, of course they are. I took the demerits out of the drawer just in case.
The eighth graders were doing a typing test. I know I told them which test to take. I know I did. If they weren’t listening and did the wrong one, hey, listen better next time. The groans and complaints weren’t that loud as they redid it. I pulled out my pen and laid it discreetly across the blank demerit pile.
Once they were through, they could play on the computer. I periodically patrolled the computer screens to see what they were playing. “Are you allowed to do that?” referring to the particular games they chose. Of course they were. I would think the school had controls blocking certain sites and since it was nothing I would balk at my kids playing at that age, I let it go. Just surprised me a little.
The last group of the day were the first graders. And guess where they all wanted to go on the computer? Wish I had a nickel for each time I saw Mickey’s ears.
Except for one boy in the far corner giggling with another. I could tell he wasn’t on the disney website and he was pointing to something on the screen so I walked over. Six year olds are not as fast as high schoolers in covering their tracks and this is what I found typed on notepad: “hey, baby. I love you”
“Are you allowed to do that?” He is only six years old! He ‘promised’ he didn’t write it and so I have now made a mental note to check the computers after each class.
So, recap for today:
Demerits: 0
Bathroom passes: 16
Nurse pass: 1
www.disneychannel.com: 4,680,500
experience to be a substitute teacher: priceless
~Sandy
